Friday, February 19, 2010

The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms - this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.~Albert Einstein - The Merging of Spirit and Science

The creationist argument flies in the face of common sense and scientific reality. Texans need to check their educational system. Is science taught in their schools and what is the curriculum? A current survey shows an alarming lack of understanding of the reality of science. Although we have had a recent Vice Presidential candidate from Alaska who would agree with these opinions. But then again I have a sibling that said he believes the exact same things. It was reported that twice the number of Republicans than Democrats hold these views, why am I not surprised? According to the Texas Tribune 51 percent of those polled don't believe that humans developed from an earlier species. Thirty eight percent believed that humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time and another thirty eight percent believe that "God created human beings pretty much in their present form about then thousand years ago." This would be laughable if it weren't so sad. The fact that many of our congressmen and senators profess similar views is definitely cause for concern. The numbers are most probably similar through out the heart land of America and very different on the coasts which tend to be more Democratic and liberal and have larger majority of people with higher educations. The saving feature is that it is not a belief system of a majority of Americans but it is enough to be cause for concern. See study by the Gallup Poll.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves.~Sen. John F. Kennedy, September 14, 1960

Liberalism has been attacked by the Right in America and to some it has become a dirty word. Yet to attack liberalism is to attack the very foundations of American Democracy. American Democracy was born out of the liberalism that gave birth to the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment has been characterized “ in many different ways, but at its broadest was a philosophical, intellectual and cultural movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It stressed reason, logic, criticism and freedom of thought over dogma, blind faith and superstition.” Thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Montesquieu, Charles-Louis Secondat and Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, were just a few of the liberal thinkers of that era. The very thinkers that influenced Jefferson, Madison and Adams. They examined all areas of human existence and questioned the very fabric of society. Most importantly they questioned the prevailing system of absolute rule and the power of the Catholic Church. The thinkers of the Enlightenment and their philosophy were seen as a threat to the existing order of divine right of kings and the power of the church. Two of the most profound results of the Enlightenment was the American Revolution and the French Revolution.Today in America “reason, logic, criticism and freedom of thought over dogma, blind faith and superstition” are under attack from the Right. Liberal thinkers of today remain dedicated to tolerance, equality, and fight for the rights of all people including gays, immigrants illegal of otherwise and people of color against the Right's extremism of the Tea Baggers, Birthers, Evangelicals and their supporters and apologists the Gay Old Party, GOP. Liberalism in America is not dead and it is the same liberalism of the founding fathers that freed us from oppression. Today liberalism is fighting to free us from the intolerance of the Right such as the Evangelicals, GOP, Tea Baggers. Liberal thought has always been attacked by those who would exploit the underprivileged and oppose true freedom, whether it be freedom of thought, freedom of actions or freedom to live free of oppression. The definition of liberalism is Freedom; freedom of thought, freedom to challenge injustice, freedom to challenge intolerance wherever it is and freedom to improve society for all citizens.

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Bill Maher calls the birther movement what it is, racism. It is definitely worth watching. Thanks to Gryphen of the Immoralmajority.blogspot.com for posting it up.

So maybe the Brit, Neil Sankey can succeed where the Russian immigrant (from the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic) has failed, bring it on.

Poor little Birthers (still in denial about their losses), Judge Land and now judge Carter, smack down the crazies (case dismissed).

Not even “Fake News” Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly believes the crazies, how funny.

To all the birthers in La, La Land, it is on you to prove to all of us that your assertion is true (TOUGH WHEN YOU KEEP LOSING CASES), if there are people who were there and support your position then show us the video (everyone has a price), either put up or frankly shut-up. I heard Orly Taitz, is selling a tape (I think it’s called “Money, Lies and Video tape”). She is from Orange County, CA, now I know what the mean when they say “behind the Orange Curtain”, when they talk about Orange County, the captial of Conspiracy Theories. You know Obama has a passport, he travel abroad before he was a Senator, but I guess they were in on it.

In my opinion the Republican Party has been taken over the most extreme religious right (people who love to push their beliefs on others while trying to take away the rights of those they just hate) and that’s who they need to extract from their party if they real want to win. Good Luck, because as they said in WACO, “We Ain’t Coming Out”.

I wonder if she is a mail order bride, just like her law degree? She is perfect reporter material for “Fake News”, where unfounded rumors and innuendo reign supreme , unlike a our US courts of law. The way our courts work is that you get a competent lawyer, verifiable facts and present them to a judge, if the facts are real and not half baked lies, then, and only then, you proceed to trial. The Birthers seem to be having a problem with their so called facts that they present. Let’s face it no one will go along with you until you guys win a case, but until then, you will continue to appear dumb, crazy or racist, or maybe all three. Keep plucking that chicken.

Monday, February 15, 2010

What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.~Bertrand Russell, British philosopher, mathematician and Fabian

Published April 20th 2009 a wonderful perceptive definition of what the tea-baggers are and what their movement doesn't get. I thought it worth publishing. It was what I was going to address and this writer just nailed it. Tea baggers don't get it and they follow a pompous ass and believe his bombast. Their movement is laced with hypocrisy and racism. Sadly the fact is that the programs of the Obama administration are designed to help people in their socioeconomic class which they fail too see. Their mantra "take back America, is racist and the other mantra "we want government out of our health care" acts against their own self interest, and lacks any real knowledge of the issues and plays into the hands of the health insurance industry that see profit before people and is supported by the Gay Old Party, GOP.

TEABAGGERS"A misinformed, right-wing corporate media consumer who often fails to understand that BOTH major parties represent a corrupt plutocracy that steals from the middle class by taxing labor and profiting from corporate tax subsidies.

A teabagger also often fails to acknowledge that George W. Bush and his neo-conservative minions perpetrated one of the boldest and most egregious executive power grabs in the history of the United States. Furthermore, teabaggers mistakenly continue to blame a newly elected President Obama for all that ails the United States of America, based on a grossly flawed perception of reality (including latent racial prejudice) and despite the fact the U.S. economy collapsed on the previous administration's watch.

Teabaggers are also known to base their misguided, right-wing-media-inspired beliefs about President Obama on stupid conspiracy theories about totalitarian takeovers, FEMA camps, etc., despite the fact these very same theories have been circulating around on the Internet for years, and were originally ascribed to neo-conservative cabalists at a time when Barack Obama had not even entered national politics. Teabaggers also are known to be particularly paranoid, xenophobic and intolerant, especially with regard to immigrants and anyone who isn't white.

Additionally, teabaggers generally echo stupid myths about entitlement spending (it actually only accounts for about 1% of federal budget spending), have no idea that most poor people in America are not lazy, actually do work and don't want to be on welfare, and have no idea what socialism actually means or that socialist reform in this country is actually what allowed a middle class to flourish and ultimately make the U.S. one of the most prosperous nations in human history.

Furthermore, teabaggers incorrectly equate socialism with Stalinism, think a system that rewards greed (capitalism) is the divine preference (despite Gospel evidence to the contrary), and are shameless champions of a misguided belief in American exceptionalism. Teabaggers also fail to recognize the inherently unpatriotic nature of their failed every-man-for-himself ideology that ultimately vilifies anyone who supports public policy aimed at reaching out to fellow Americans in need. They celebrate an exploitative corporatocracy (holy creator of jobs, blah blah blah) while denigrating the little guy for being "weak."

Interestingly, teabaggers uphold an immoral, morbidly obese, twice divorced, draft-dodging, college dropout and known drug addict as their de facto leader, and are even known to advocate burning books. Of course, teabaggers fail to recognize the blatant hypocrisy within the GOP and tend to oversimplify all political debate and social issues, much like their pseudo-intellectual, fat-ass leader.

Every village has its idiots, of course, but it's sad when citizens of any nation allow themselves to be whipped into a frenzy en masse by a state-run propaganda machine masquerading as a legitimate, fair, balanced and independent news organization. Teabaggers are right to believe the future of the U.S.A. is in jeopardy, but sadly they have not yet correctly identified the real enemy. Perhaps when teabaggers finally grow up and mature into thinking adults, they will see the right-leaning power establishment for the oppressive and cunning beast that it is.

Teabagger: We don't care that George Bush tripled the deficit and lied us into a war. The new administration only cut taxes for 90% of the population... fascists. Let's go throw some Lipton tea bags into a fountain!"Deepshot, published on the Urban Dictionary.

Background

I earned my BA Degree at Queens College CUNY, in Political Science, and MA from College of Staten Island CUNY, in Liberal Studies. PhM in Metaphysics, studying the Egyptian Mystery school and its effect on western thinking. My other interest are masonic history, western civilization, specifically ancient Rome through the renaissance. My other pursuit is Shotokan Karate, an interest that has consumed beginning in 1960. I hold a 8 degree black belt in Shotokan Karate from the World Traditional Karate Organization, WTKO. www.wtko.org I hold a 3rd degree in Iaido, Japanese sword art including a variety of martial arts weapons and close combat techniques.